


Happy Birthday

by Serenitydusk



Category: Original Work
Genre: Comfort, Exophilia, F/M, Fluff, Happy Birthday, Human Female - Freeform, Vampire Male, birthday angst, stage fright, vampire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:47:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29117016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serenitydusk/pseuds/Serenitydusk
Summary: Olivia's friends drag her to the most infamous club in the city, The Garden for her birthday. The club is where the monsters dance, among other things that are left to the imagination. Tricking her, they shove her onstage for one of the 'special dances'. But instead of humiliation, Olivia is rescued by the ever charming Rhys who is determined to salvage what is left of her birthday.
Relationships: Vampire - Relationship, original female - Relationship, original male - Relationship
Kudos: 5





	Happy Birthday

“Have fun!!” There was a shove and Olivia heard her friends cackling somewhere behind her, and then blinding lights. She wasn’t supposed to be here, she never wanted to be here up on stage in front of everyone. A roar from the crowd in front of her, so loud Olivia felt it slam into her like a wave, deafening her. The world was spinning in slow motion as she tried to catch herself, windmilling her arms. But she was falling and there was no way to stop the inevitable face-plant on stage, in front of everybody.

But then she did stop. And it wasn’t from hitting the floor face first. Strong arms caught her and she looked up into the most impossible blue eyes. There was no way eyes could ever be that blue. He was tall, so much taller than her, and wearing not much, just pants so tight they were painted on,leaving nothing to the imagination. That was about all Olivia could even register before the next wave of panic hit her. She had to get out of here, get off this stage and away from all the people. 

The music blared as he caught the startled woman tripping onto the stage. No, not startled, near panicking was more like it. Her heart was racing and her eyes wide. Her movement and his dancing had them in the middle of stage, too late to turn back now, but he could tell she was about to bolt.

He turned off his mic, his voice low in her ear. “You don’t want to be here?” 

Too much white showed around her deep green eyes as she frantically shook her head, throat too dry to even try and answer him.

He spun her around so his back was to the crowd and they couldn’t really see her around him. “Look at me.” The crowd was just a field of darkness anyway with the house lights on the stage. “I’ll get you out of here, ok? Just hold on to my wrists.” It really limited what he could do dancing, but hey, his hips brought all the attention to where it was needed anyway. Somehow it seemed to make women feel safer than holding on to his waist, and holding on to something was better than just standing there. Normally he’d spin her around the stage a few times and then give her a special dance on the chair in the middle of the stage, but he knew that look on her face all too well.

The only thing that kept her from crying or running or both was his promise to get her off this damned stage. That and she was afraid if she did run, her legs would just buckle. She didn’t want to come to the club in the first place but her friends had badgered her until she finally gave in, after she had made them promise this wouldn’t happen. She didn’t even know him and she was touching him and ...there wasn’t enough air to suck down. If there was anyone in the universe listening, some god, a guardian angel, ...she’d take a crossroads demon at this point, ‘Please don’t let me pass out.’ 

She had a death grip on his wrists and if he was human, there would definitely be some bruising. And then her face went white, “Hey, look at me. We’re almost off stage. And then it’s over, ok.” She nodded and he pulled her into the wings, out of sight of the audience. This had to be one of the worst cases of stage fright he had ever seen. What on earth possessed her to come on stage in the first place? Special dances were not cheap. “Hey, take a deep breath. Slowly. Don’t hyperventilate. You’re safe now.” 

She didn’t exactly feel safe, but there was something about him that seemed steady and calming. His voice was low and soothing, without the patronizing note she expected to hear. “I don’t know about safe, but I’m off stage, so that’s better.” Finally, as she caught her breath, she was able to take a good look at him. He was handsome, no, he was gorgeous, almost beautiful even. The perfect balance between slender and over muscled. Dark auburn hair framed a face that could be an angel’s or a devil’s depending on how he smiled. It was easy to see how he’d gotten a job here. He wasn’t just attractive, he had an air of confidence around him too. She could feel her pulse pounding in her ears and looked down, realizing she still had an iron grip on the dancer. Her nails had dug into his skin, leaving deep crescents Letting go, she apologized, “Ah, sorry, oh my god, I’m so sorry!” 

He shrugged, “I barely noticed. You’re fine.” He looked over his shoulder at one of the backstage crew, “Hey, go get her a drink. Whatever she wants.” Looking back at the woman, “What do you want?” 

“Just water. Please.” 

“It’s on me. Get anything you want.” 

“No, really, I don’t think I could keep anything down.” She gave him a smile, feeling the tears start to burn, “No point wasting it, huh.”

“How bout a Sprite?”

“Ginger ale?” 

“Ginger ale it is.” The crew gave him a nod and headed up to the bar as the dancer led her down a hallway and back out to the front. “You ok now?” 

“Yeah, look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to waste your time, and thanks. Thanks for getting me out of there.” 

He wanted to ask why she was even up there, but lots of women, and more than a few men, got up there, thinking it would be one thing, and finding out it was something very different when everyone was watching. “Of course. And you’re not wasting my time. You paid for a twenty minute dance and you still have me for fifteen more minutes.” He smiled as he led her to the bar where her ginger ale was waiting. He was going to say more when a group of women walked up.

“Oh my god, Olivia! What the hell?” A tall brunette walked up right on her, in her face. “Do you know how much I paid for him?’ She jabbed a thumb at the dancer. “And you just blew it. If you weren’t going to do it, why didn’t you tell me.” 

At first Olivia shrank in on herself, and then as the taller woman kept berating her, something inside her broke loose. Taking a step forward, her eyes narrowed as she glared at the other woman, “I did tell you, Morgan. I told you when you asked me to come here that I didn’t want to get on stage.” She snapped. Olivia may have been a few inches shorter, but the anger in her eyes more than made up for it. “You said you were going to do it instead and needed ‘moral support’ and I fell for it. Then you shoved me on stage.” 

Morgan huffed, “I thought you’d be fine once you got up there. Besides, look at him.” Her eyes raked over the dancer like he was a seven course meal and she was just getting started. “All you had to do was sit there and you still managed to mess it up.”

The dancer stepped between them, “Ladies, the stage isn’t for everyone. Let me make it up to you.” He handed each of Olivia’s friends a card. “Free pass to the back rooms.” Two of the women behind Morgan started giggling excitedly. The back rooms were notoriously hard to get into and often booked months in advance. Three passes were easily triple what his dance was worth. “Ask for Gress. He’ll take care of you.” 

There was something about the way he said ‘take care of you’ that made the hair on the back of Olivia’s neck stand up. But her friends didn’t seem to notice and were more than happy to go off, leaving her alone without another word. “Happy birthday to me.” She said, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice. 

“It’s your birthday?” He turned back towards her as her friends made a beeline towards the back. If they hadn’t been so horrible to her, he might feel sorry for them. But in the end he didn’t. Karma, and Gress, would indeed be quite the bitch. “Then how about I make it up to you?”

“Oh no, really, it’s fine. I’ll just catch an Uber home.” She had no desire to find out what the back rooms were like and really, the sound of curling up in her jammies had way more appeal than it should.

“Please? Just coffee somewhere quiet. My treat. My name is Rhys, by the way.” 

He looked so sincere and coffee did sound good. What did she have to lose? “Alright, Rhys. I’m Olivia and I’d love to.” She watched him head to the back to change into something more than very tight fitting pants, and waited, watching the stage. 

A naga was up there contorting in ways that no one with a spine should be able to do and the woman on stage was clearly eating it up, wrapped up in his coils. Rhys had promised to be back in ten minutes and made good on his promise, just as the naga’s dance ended. 

They had caught a taxi to a small coffee shop. “I had no idea this place even existed.” It wasn’t a part of town she was in often, but she’d been here many times before and had never seen it.

“Yeah, it’s easy to miss.” Very easy. The spells around it kept most humans from ever seeing it, their eyes passing right over it as they went past it. Holding the door for her, they stepped inside and she was hit with the smell of heaven. The smell of warm, rich, coffee filled the air, with a hint of sweet sharpness that was magnified by the case of desserts on display. 

“Hey there, sugar, where you been?” Her voice was like summer and honey, drawing out every syllable like she was savoring each one. An older woman stepped over to the counter and despite her silvery white tight curls shot through with gray and the age in her sparkling, slate eyes, her face was unlined. 

“Working, Medjine! You know they keep me busy.” He grinned at the grugach.

“Boy...” She shook her head in exasperation, but was grinning the whole time. “You act like you don’t love every minute of all that attention.” She turned to look at Olivia, “Ah my lamb, and what can I get you to make up for his sorry company?” She gave Olivia a wink. Clearly the two of them knew each other, quite well, from the sound of their banter. 

“Ah,....” Her eyes flew over the menu. “I’ll have the Sugar and Spice.” It seemed a safe bet. 

Medjine nodded, “And you, sugar. Your usual?” 

He nodded, “I’m sweet enough as it is.” He grinned, flashing fang as Medjine rolled her eyes. “And something a little extra for both of us. It’s her birthday.” 

Olivia was still trying not to stare at his fangs. She knew the staff at the club wasn’t human. That was the whole point. But Rhys seemed so human. He just looked like a regular guy. A very handsome regular guy, but not what you’d think a monster would look like. Maybe that was it though, some monsters blended in with their prey, making it easier to get close. She shook off that morbid line of thought.

He paid and they found themselves a spot while their coffee and ‘extra’ were being made. She had wondered from the very first moment she had seen his fangs what exactly Rhys was and gave into her curiosity. “So, what are you?” 

His smile was slow, as he looked at her then glanced down. When he looked back at her, his eyes were crimson and she realized then, he had dropped all pretense of being human. 

The ‘smile’ was more of a showing off of fangs, which seemed noticeably larger than they had just seconds ago, than any attempt at friendliness. Seeing him now, she didn’t know how she missed it. He may look mostly human. He may have once been human. But now, there was nothing human about him. And even looking at him now, she couldn’t put her finger on it. Yes his eyes were red and his fangs were showing, but there was a sense of predator, of  _ otherness _ about him. It made the primitive part of her brain, the part that was geared towards instinct and survival, screech, demanding that she run or hide or bare her woefully blunt teeth and fight, even though he did nothing but sit there across from her.  
  
“That was probably horribly bad manners to ask.” She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry.

And in a second it was all gone and just like that, he was human again. But she knew now, in a way she hadn’t before that it was all an illusion. But now that the veneer of humanity was back, it wasn’t quite so scary. “I don’t mind really, but there are some that would take offense.” He cleared his throat, “I’m a vampire. And yes, I do drink blood. And no, I do not sparkle. The movies got a lot of it wrong.” He grinned then, a real grin, fangs and all, but there was a warmth to it that masked the fact he really wasn’t human. 

Medjine set down two steaming mugs and a tray in front of them. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, lamb. So I made you a tray of bites.” There was an assortment of different desserts, each a big bite or, if one was feeling generous, enough to share. She leaned over, hissing in Rhys’ ear, “Don’t you scare the lamb.” And gave him a warning nudge on his shoulder, though there was a playful gleam in her eyes to soften her words. 

“I won’t. I won’t.” He held up his hands in mock surrender, laughing as Medjine walked back to the counter to help another customer. He took a sip of his drink, his eyes crinkling in appreciation. “She’s a bit protective of humans.” 

Not too surprising, considering what she was. Grugachs were distantly related to brownies. They were guardians, nurturing and protective of the ones they cared about and vicious and merciless to those that tried to harm them. Most of them no longer had homes to protect, so many of them, like Medjine, went into the service and hospitality industry, their customers replacing the families they once watched over. 

“And you? Are you always protective of humans?” There was something in his gaze that made warmth creep into her cheeks, and she couldn’t help grinning at him. 

“When they end up tripping into my arms, I try to be.” He cut into a piece of what looked like carrot cake, offering her half.

Which she accepted, taking a second to think about how she was going to ask her next question as she savored it. “What about the back rooms? And my friends?” Olivia was sure nothing too bad was going to happen, right? It was bad for business if your clients complained about being mistreated. Or disappeared altogether. “Who is Gress and what is he going to do to them?” 

They had abandoned her on her birthday and she was still worried about them? “Gress is complicated, but let’s just say he’s an angel. Nothing  _ bad _ will happen to them. At least not tonight. Tomorrow they’ll feel like they’ve been run over by a mack truck. They’ll chalk it up to staying out too late, too much booze and partying.” Gress will have fed well, probably haunt their dreams for a few weeks, getting a little extra off of them, but eventually he would grow bored and leave them alone. 

“I didn’t think that sex was allowed?” He was an  _ angel _ ? Was Rhys being literal or figurative? Olivia’s mind was reeling. Should she go back and try to find them? She didn’t remember anything in Sunday school that covered this.

Rhys shrugged. “Selling sexual services isn’t legal. They are renting a room. Now, what happens in that room with consenting adults isn’t any of my business or concern. It’s no different than if they rented a hotel room for the night.” It was different. Completely different, but so far the city hadn’t been able to do anything about it. Rhys wasn’t sure how hard they really tried though, not with the amount of revenue the clubs were bringing in on tourism and alcohol alone. 

As if on cue his phone buzzed. A text. From Gress, speak of the devil. ‘ _ I hate you so much right now _ .’ 

Rhys texted back, ‘ _ Love you too, boo. Smooches. _ ’

“Oh hey, Gress just let me know he is having a great time with your friends! A win win for everyone.” It must be bad if he was actually texting him while he was with the three women. They were most likely in an unconscious stupor by now. Well, if he had been in Gress’ place he wouldn’t have wanted to to make it last any longer than he had to either. Rhys saw the uncertainty in her eyes, “Hey, listen, I promise, he won’t hurt them. And he won’t do anything to them they didn’t ask for or consent to, ok?” Before they even made it into the back rooms, they would have signed a ten page release form that would have made the devil proud. But Gress would still make sure they were willing every step of the way. They might be bitches, but no one deserved that. Besides, he was pretty sure Gress got off on it when they begged.

“Oh, they would be more than willing...” And that was fine. It just casual sex wasn’t her thing. “I just don’t want them to get hurt, is all.” 

“They won’t. They’ll feel really,  _ really _ good. Then the next few days, they’ll be exhausted. Headaches aren’t uncommon. But if they drink plenty of water and get some rest, they’ll be fine.” It will just wreck their weekend and make their Monday morning absolutely awful. It wasn’t always like that, though. Gress was powerful enough to make it absolute, mind-shattering bliss. Right up until he drained the last spark of life from their body. Or even worse, addict them to his power and leave them pining for his touch, wasting away from longing.  But not to clients. Never to clients.

“What’s it like? Just really good sex?” She couldn’t believe she was even asking, but her curiosity got the best of her. Though for a horrible second, she worried. Would Rhys think she'd rather be back at the club than with him?

He didn’t seem bothered by her question though. And he had been asked just about everything you could possibly imagine already anyway. “I’ve never had sex with him, but from what I’ve seen it blows really good sex out of the water.” 

Seen? Olivia very much wanted to ask more, but it was probably treading into the territory of too personal. And they had both finished their drinks and the bites Medjine had brought them. “Listen, thank you. Really. I appreciate it. But I don’t want to take up any more of your time. You’ve gone above and beyond for good customer service.” 

“I am off the clock, Olivia.” He brushed a knuckle against her hand. “I didn’t do this because I had to or because I felt sorry for you. I just wanted you to at least have a nice ending to your birthday.” Reaching across the table, he tilted her chin up, “And, I’d like to see you again.” 

Leaving the cafe, they caught another cab, and Rhys had walked her up to her house and given her the sweetest kiss. “So, is that a yes for a second date?”    
  
Olivia pretended to think for a moment, then nodded, “I’d like that.”    
  
They had made plans to go out again next week and she was sure, knowing her luck, something would happen and it wouldn’t work out. But for now, Olivia had crawled under her covers unable to hold back the biggest grin.

This had turned out to be the best birthday ever. 


End file.
